Gender, equity and human rights

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10 AUGUST 2017 – Environmental health risks especially affect women and children, because women are more vulnerable socially. For an example, household air pollution from dirty fuels and inefficient cook stoves caused around 4 million premature deaths in 2012. This WHO Bulletin article addresses how the Sustainable Development Goals can be used to reduce environmental health risks and improve transport, housing, urban design and energy provision.

21 JULY 2017 – While many countries have improved the overall health of their populations, national averages don’t tell the whole story, and groups of people can miss out on health services for a variety of reasons. WHO has developed a set of resources to monitor health inequalities – one of which, the Health Equity Assessment Toolkit (HEAT), was recently tested in Indonesia, allowing the country to analyse and interpret inequalities in health.

17 JULY 2017 - Worldwide, 12.9 million infants, nearly 1 in 10, did not receive any vaccinations in 2016, according to new estimates from WHO and UNICEF. These infants missed the first dose of diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (DTP)-containing vaccine, putting them at serious risk. Additionally, an estimated 6.6 million infants who did receive their first dose of DTP-containing vaccine did not complete the full, three dose DTP immunization series (DTP3) in 2016.

5 JULY 2017 – The Innov8 Facilitator’s Manual is designed for persons conducting the capacity-building workshops of applications of the Innov8 approach for reviewing national health programmes to leave no one behind. Innov8 is an 8-step review process that supports programmes to be more equity-oriented, rights-based, gender-responsive and to address social determinants in order to contribute to the progressive realization of universal health coverage and the right to health. The Manual – the partnering publication to the Innov8 Technical Handbook – provides an introduction to the facilitation of a generic Innov8 review process entailing three workshops – sensitization, review and redesign – to aid and support the adaptation process.

27 JUNE 2017 – Discrimination in health care is widespread across the world and takes many forms. It violates the most fundamental human rights and affects both users of health care services and health care workers. The new joint United Nations statement on ending discrimination in health care settings calls for health workers to fulfil their responsibilities, but also to have their rights protected. Many health workers, especially women, are themselves vulnerable and victims of discrimination, abuse, and violence.

Standing #WithRefugees on World Refugee Day

20 JUNE 2017 – Today is World Refugee Day. The 70th World Health Assembly endorsed a Resolution on “Promoting the health of refugees and migrants.” Key points that emerged through the sessions included unanimous consensus that health must be included in the Global Compacts and the need for interregional and international cooperation and responsibility sharing among countries in responding to the health needs of refugees and migrants.

26 MAY 2017 – The global principle behind the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, “leave no one behind,” is often thought of as a lofty and ambiguous goal. A side event held during the 70th World Health Assembly sought to showcase specific actions that countries are taking to operationalize this principle.

31 MAY 2017 – Today is World No Tobacco Day. Action to stamp out tobacco use can help countries prevent millions from falling ill and dying from tobacco-related disease and combat poverty. Tobacco threatens women in particular. The tobacco industry targets women by implying that tobacco use enhances gender equality, glamour, sociability and success. In addition, 60%-70% of tobacco farm workers are women, putting them in close contact with often hazardous chemicals.

22 MAY 2017 – The High-Level Working Group for Health and Human Rights of Women, Children and Adolescents launched its report to an enthusiastic audience at a high-level side-event at the 70th World Health Assembly. The report – the first of its kind that will be presented both to the World Health Assembly and the Human Rights Council – calls on governments to step up their action to uphold the right to health in national law; to protect people who advocate for rights – including health workers; and to strengthen the collection of rights-sensitive data for better monitoring and reporting.

Facts and features

In this photo story, see how making gender, equity and human rights everyone’s responsibility is reshaping the way health policies and programmes are developed and implemented to benefit women, men, girls and boys across the Western Pacific Region.